It's Not What Your Parents Smoked

Is your teen smoking marijuana (pot, weed, reefer, ganja, dope, doobie, bud, grass, leaf, joint, chronic, bammer, schwag)?

Short-Term Effects:

Relaxation, paranoia, dilated pupils, dry mouth, impaired memory/concentration, fear, increased heart rate, munchies, seem dizzy or have trouble walking, silly/giggly for no reason (isn't that a lot of teen girls in general), red eyes.

Long-Term Effects:

• Breathing problems, higher incidence of pneumonia, colds, and other airway problems such as coughing and wheezing;


• THC in marijuana damages cells and tissue in the body that protect against disease.


• Whether it causes cancer is still unclear;


• Dependency.

Marijuana in the 60's and 70's was much less potent. Marijuana today is much more potent due to technology so the chemicals being inhaled/consumed has substantially increased. This isn't your parents' pot anymore. It is more dangerous.

If you've seen or heard your teen refer to "420", it is said to be a term marijuana users use to mean April 20 (of any year) - almost like a national holiday for them (a time to get high) or the time 4:20. Wow, kids actually think they are spiritually connected to other pot users on this day or during this time on any given day? *yikes* They say April 20th is a day when schools see a decrease in attendance. I'd be curious to see if that is correct. It might show up in texts, myspace pages, license plates, t-shirts, etc. Interesting eh?

If you hear the term "wake and bake" - it means they are using in the morning.

Contrary to general opinion, you CAN become addicted to pot.

An article I read today in USA Today indicates:

"...Depression, teens and marijuana are a dangerous mix that can lead to dependency, mental illness or suicidal thoughts..."

"Marijuana is a more consequential substance of abuse than our culture has treated it in the last 20 years," said John Walters, director of the office. "This is not just youthful experimentation that they'll get over as we used to think in the past."

"...using marijuana increases the risk of developing mental disorders by 40%, the report said. And teens who smoke pot at least once a month over a year-long period are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than non-users..."

"It's not something you look the other way about when your teen starts appearing careless about their grooming, withdrawing from the family, losing interest in daily activities..."

This is not something for parents to write off as "experimenting" or "we did it when we were kids..." It's not the same anymore!